From widely known, to worrying to weird, here are five developing stories to watch in Africa as we kick off 2018. Going into 2018, the prospects for Zimbabwean democracy are uncertain, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa is no ardent democrat. When Africa is mentioned, it is usually in the context of securing North Africa from refugee smugglers and extremists in the Sahel. Completely surrounded by South Africa, Lesotho threatens to become a pocket of instability in the heart of Africa’s second largest economy. If the Badoo resume their killing spree in earnest in 2018, Nigerian security forces will have another, very public failure to contend with.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 01, 2018 09:22 UTC